Breakthroughs in basic science build the foundation for clinical research and our treatment of children’s health. Many basic scientists, however, find themselves wanting to play a more active role in connecting their lab discoveries from the bench to the bedside. The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia held a Q&A panel, “How to Break Into Translational Research As a Basic Scientist,” in October as part of their week-long, biannual Translational Research Workshop.

Mitochondria are not only the power plants of our cells; these tiny structures also play a central role in our physiology. Furthermore, by enabling flexible physiological responses to new environments, mitochondria have helped humans and other mammals to adapt and evolve throughout the history of life on earth.

It is scary to learn your child has neuroblastoma, a tumor of the peripheral nervous system that is the most common cancer in infants. It is scarier still when you get test results that show your child is in the half of neuroblastoma patients whose cancer is very aggressive and high-risk.